I Want My Hat Back
by Jon Klassen. I saw this tucked in on a Charlesbridge table at SLJ's Day of Dialog (DoD) and figured it was another one of those beautifully printed, deadpan European picture books that I like that are kind of a little 'off'. Like that Big Rabbit
book, or the one with the blind pigeon
. Not always the most accessible books for kids.
But no. I mean, yes, maybe it's European (it's not), and it is certainly deadpan, and beautifully produced, but there is nothing even a little bit brow-furrow-y about this book. Bear can't find his hat, and he walks around asking everyone if they've seen it. All the woodland creatures say no, including a duplicitous little rodenty fella. What happens when - and after - the bear realizes that one of his neighbors has been less than truthful is honestly unexpected and funny. Get this. Lisa Von Drasek picked it out too, for its early-grade readability and use of inference.
A Zeal of Zebras: An Alphabet of Collective Nouns
, publishing October from Chronicle. Chronicle, being Chronicle, will also package the images in this book as posters. And probably notecards and wall appliques and file folders, all of which I would BUY, because these are crunchy, beautiful, clever screen prints.
The ICKtionary
, forthcoming from Downtown Bookworks. Mao and I met that book's author, Sarah Parvis, who turns out to be totally socially related to us. Socially, she's like a second cousin by marriage. And her ICKtionary is going to include facts like, What's the farthest any animal can squirt its poop? Imagine my 9-year-old boy's reaction to that.
What had pulled us into the Downtown Bookworks booth in the first place, though, were the My First Superman
and My First Batman
touch and feel books. These are board books with such coolio features as a glow-in-the-dark Batsignal and a mirror that turns any baby into Robin the Boy Wonder. Sarah freely admitted that these are Geeky Uncle Baby Gifts, to which I say - bring 'em on. I know a baby who needs me to give her the My First Wonder Woman
board book. I do not mind assuming the role of Geeky Auntie!
Lisa McMann, Matt Kirby, and N. D. Wilson at the BEA Middle Grade Fantasy Authors panel.
Mao attended the Middle Grade Fantasy Authors talk with me, and snagged an ARC of Lisa McMann's The Unwanteds
. Sidled right up to the author and asked her to sign it. Started reading it right away. Is nearly finished. Just finished it. I think we can call this one a winner. Lisa wrote the Wake series, and was a very funny speaker. Watch for Mao's review of The Unwanteds in the coming week.
I feel very interested in N. D. Wilson's The Dragon's Tooth
, also discussed at that panel. I typically feel great interest in the things Nate Wilson writes, ever since Leepike Ridge won my heart with its combination of epic adventure and depth of feeling. I had a little chat with Nate while Mao was getting his fanboy on with Lisa McMann, and confessed that I didn't catch the allegory in Leepike Ridge til a few days after I had finished it. "Yeah, I can't stand allegory," he said, and in that instant became my friend forever.
The grownup picture book by Sophie Blackall. It's called Missed Connections: Love, Lost & Found
. I only saw a poster of this, but I find Sophie Blackall's art so wry, and her blog so hopeful and tender, I will be on the lookout for the book when it hits the shelves.
The fact that Little Brown has FOUR excellent picture books coming out in short succession: an Ed Young
, a Jerry Pinkney
, a Chris Gall
, and Along a Long Road
, by Frank Viva. Victoria Stapleton, at the SLJ DoD, said "Little, Brown is having a very good year," and she was not exaggerating.
Ooohhh, and there were like five great F&G's on a spinning rack at Houghton: Gifts from the Gods
, a graphic novel illustrated by Gareth Hinds; some little book with a cover by Santat someone whose work looks a lot like Dan Santat's; a lovely full-color picture book called A Stick Is an Excellent Thing
with pictures by LeUyen Pham; and the very exciting-looking thing in which incredible, imaginative authors took the pictures out of that amazing old Van Allsburg thing and each wrote a story.
Um. I can do better with that last item. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is a nearly wordless 1984 book by Chris Van Allsburg with thought-provoking, mysterious illustrations. For decades, teachers and students, librarians and parents have been using this book as a diving board into the world of imagination. Several years ago, Stephen King wrote a story based on one of the pictures. And now, so have Sherman Alexie, M.T. Anderson, Kate DiCamillo, Cory Doctorow, Jules Feiffer, Tabitha King, Lois Lowry, Gregory Maguire, Walter Dean Myers, Linda Sue Park, Louis Sachar, Jon Scieszka, and even more.
The new book is called The Chronicles of Harris Burdick
. I have heard some people make little mournful sounds when talking about it, I won't lie. It might be hard to see those provocative illustrations any other way than the way these talented writers see them from here on out. But it's done, and I want to read it.
Bunheads
. It's such a great title and I love the cover image so much, I almost picked it up even though it doesn't sound like it's for me. Ballet girls, written by a ballet girl, for girls who saw Black Swan and swooned.
I am seriously torn about the new Daniel Handler. I saw Daniel Handler speak about this book at the Day of Dialog and on one of the stages inside the Javits Center. It's called Why We Broke Up
, and it is the post-mortem on a relationship, told by way of a box of objects dumped on a doorstep. Each humble object, painted by Maira Kalman, appears in this book.
For one thing, I do not think Maira Kalman is as talented a painter as Handler does. I couldn't possibly. The rhapsodizing that man does about that woman is almost obscene. It should maybe only be done in private. Also, he does that volte-face narrative thing when he speaks, just like when he writes. Describing the way that he proposed the book to Ms. Kalman, he says that he took her to an extremely nice lunch, with a roast chicken for two, and then gave her the proposal, and then hid in the bathroom, which was not nearly as nice a bathroom as you might expect in such an excellent restaurant. I can't decide whether I am entirely over that or whether I will always think it's funny.
How to Speak Wookiee
. It's a board book that takes you through various situations, with numbered responses that are keyed to the buttons on the plastic speaker thingie that plays various Wookiee phrases. Chronicle is planning to get that out in September/October and I really think they should do it sooner. You know what they say - let the Wookiee win.
Katherine Paterson sold the living hell out of The Flint Heart
at the SLJ DoD, charmingly taking us from her first exposure to the original book through to her editor's sobbing reaction to the adaptation that Ms. Paterson and her husband collaborated on. The illustrations by John Rocco (Blackout) are all I needed to know about.
And the new William Joyce picture book, The Man in the Moon
, is, astoundingly, worth all the hype. It's already got like a multi-movie contract, you know. But I love that guy's aesthetic - the clean shapes, the old-fashioned palette and shading, the styyyyllle. I would dress like his books if I thought I could keep my hair neat all day.
And one more - a book I didn't see at Book Expo but which was waiting for me when I got home yesterday: SPOILED
by Heather and Jessica! And they dedicated it to Fug Nation, which is meeee! (And all of us who are devoted to their website: we are all sisters in skepticism. We are The Brigade of the Raised Brow. The Hospitallers of Oh Honey No. The Get Some Pants On Gurkhas.)
And I am going to read that book right away.
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